Is calling someone a twink an insult?

I''m amazed how easily it''s used here. When I was in my 20s (and blond) I was grossly insulted if someone called me a twink, because I thought it implied I had no brains. Yet older men would call me that to my face as a come-on term.\ \ I hear it in use nowhere in the gay world anymore other than here now I''m in my 40s (I guess the same is true of hearing "Mary!" as an exclamation though too).

• It''s the gay male version of "starlet."\ \ It''s not a compliment.

• MARY!

• It depends. Is he a twink?

• It''s more of a backhanded compliment, dismissive more than derogatory. "Twink" has a little more to do with appearance than personality. If someone you don''t know calls you a twink, it probably means he thinks you are boyishly cute. If it''s someone you do know, he thinks you''re a ditz. And there are worse things you could be called.

• Well put, R4. It is dismissive.%0D\ %0D\ I would equate it with gay man putting down another gay in a way a redneck uses the%0D\ FXX word.

• It also means "uh, no, I would never put that in my mouth," by those grossed out by the effete things.

• Gentlemen, is this cute blonde a twink?

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• It's only an insult when directed at pop groups.

• It also implies a lack of masculinity, which for most guys, is a very serious insult.

• Hi, Andy.

• OP seems to have some issues. "Twink" is now a sexually coded word for porn and a typically dismissive-yet-specific-and-oddly-respectful term for those who are into... twinks. And I don't know anyone in the world who uses it for real people except when the overt sexual involvement is there. Most people subjected to the mindless, self-absorbed, selfish, entitled and dull crop of youth out there simply call them "assholes" unless it's their assholes that are the goal.